Yavin Academy
by StarWars-Freak
Summary: He hated her she despised him. It was obvious they were meant to be... NJO characters in High School. JJ, JTK, and AT
1. First Day

This story was previously posted on this website under _Young Jedi Knights_, but has been _rewritten _and _revamped_ and _moved_ to here.

_If you've come from the Boards_ at the force dot net, welcome. I'm sorry for the inconvenience if you do not usually come to this website; however, as I said on the thread, this story does not fit with the parameters set by the staff and rather than get in trouble with the Powers That Be, I have decided to move it to here. Thank you for joining me again!

Since this is an AU story that takes place, not only in our galaxy, but **our world** as well, I should probably explain some thing first. This takes place in the **New Republic of the South Pacific Island Cluster** (really bad name, I know). Just think of the Star Wars Galactic Republic and put it into the form of a lot of little islands instead of big planets. Everything else should be explained in the story. The characters are based off the _NJO _characters starting with _YJK_ and going up through _DN_, but mostly their characteristics were taken from _NJO_.

**Title:** Yavin Academy  
**Author:** DL Puple Pencil/StarWars-Freak  
**Characters:** Mainly Jag, Jaina, Jacen, Anikan, Zekk, Lowie, Tenel Ka, and Kyp, but many other characters are involved.  
**Summery:** She despised him; he loathed her. It was obvious they were meant to be...  
**Genre:** Romance mostly, but some angst, humor, and drama (aka life) thrown in  
**Pairings:** as I have already said, J/J, A/T, J/TK are definite, but not necessarily constant (it will make sense later)  
**Note for future chapters:** I don't hate Zekk, but I did hate his actions in DN, so I've drawn a lot from that.

Chapter 1: First Day

Jag Fel took a deep breath to calm his nerves and walked up the stairs to the giant open doors and into the classy, famous school. His family had just moved to Coruscant in his senior year, and now he would be attending Yavin Academy, one of the most prestigious schools in the Islands. He looked around cautiously at the students who milled about in the mall area. They were all dressed similar to him the grey and blue uniforms of the Academy. The dress code, however, seemed to be much more lax than in his previous school on the island of Csilla.

No one looked his way, instead focusing on their already defined cliques, but he observed them. Behind him there was a great wave of girl's excited chatter and giggling coming in from behind him. When Jag looked he saw a light haired boy about a year younger than himself. The boy sported the uniform with a casual flair that no one else had. He had a girl on his right, who wore her uniform conservatively, and a girl on his left, who didn't. Behind them, a long entourage of girls of every grade level followed them, but the leading trio didn't notice.

Jag Fel knew his senior year was definitely going to be far from what his previous years had been.

He felt strange just standing there, but he was told to wait for someone to show him around, and Jag Fel was nothing if not obedient.  
Out of nowhere, Jag was nearly sent sprawling. Three figures zoomed past him on skate boards. From the little he saw of them, he could make out that there were two boys and a girl.

"Jagged Fel?" He turned at the sound of his name. There stood a tall, smiling guy about his age with dark brown hair and eyes. Jag quickly realized that the guy was Jacen Solo, the President's eldest son.

"That's me." They shook hands.

"I'm Jacen. Here's your schedule. We have all the same classes, so I guess you're stuck with me."

"Thanks." Jacen smiled and nodded. "And it's Jag, not Jagged."

"Got it. Follow me, first period starts in a few." Jacen was the instantly likeable type.

He chatted jovially about Yavin Academy and the different teachers. He asked Jag if he played any sports. Jag replied "yes" - fencing. Jacen was on the team and encouraged Jag to try out.

They got through the first half of classes rather well. The teachers were nice enough, and Jacen was obviously very popular with them and his peers. It was finally lunch and Jacen led Jag through the cafeteria to his "usual table". The twelve-seater was empty when they got to it. Jacen sat down third from the far end and motioned for Jag to sit across from him. One by one, the table began to fill up. First to come was a tall, handsome guy who walked around as though something fowl smelling was permanently under his nostrils. Jacen introduced him as Raynar Thul. Jag knew about his family's company. They nodded curtly to each other, and he sat directly to the right of Jag. The next few came, and Jag was surprised to see the same trio from before in the hallway.

"Jag, this is my younger brother, Anakin."

"Hey, how you doing?" Anakin Solo reached across the table from next to Jacen and shook his hand. Jag could tell that the younger Solo was just as amiable as his brother. "This," he pointed to the conservative blonde standing between himself and his brother, "is Tahiri. And this," he pointed to the sluttish girl that sat down next Raynar, "is Alema."

"Good to meet you."

The two sat down across from Raynar and Alema. Next to come were two guys. One carried his lunch tray on a skate board; even with the required uniform, the guy (introduced as Zekk) looked the part of a punk. The other, Tesar, had his head shaved so close, Jag almost thought he was bald, and he looked rather similar to their odd AP Bio teacher Mrs. Sebatyne. Zekk, whom Jag had an immediate dislike for, sat to Jag's left with a seat in between, and Tesar sat to Zekk's left.

Two more trays were set down. Jag hadn't even noticed that anyone was approaching. the first girl was tall and gorgeous. She sat down next to Jacen and gave him a kiss. Jacen introduced her as Tenel Ka and her friend, a shorter, pudgy girl as Tekli.  
The seat between Zekk and Jag remained vacated, and Jag noticed with surprise that no one at their table had touched their food. It wasn't the disgusting type of food that usually characterized a cafeteria, but still, no one ate a thing. Jag glanced around; everyone else was eating. And that's when he saw her for the first time...


	2. Battle of Wills

Chapter 2: Battle of Wills

_And that's when he saw her for the first time..._

It wasn't love at first sight. In fact, Jag felt slightly revolted by how she looked. Still, Jag found it impossible to look away. Perhaps it was the air of invincibility that hummed all around her, but he doubted it. The girl was... unique was too kind a word. She wore the uniform, but only just. Not that her clothes were a couple sizes to small for her, like Aelma's were, but the regulation jacket sprung from her over stuffed, black messenger bag, and her neck tie was missing entirely. Her sleeves were rolled up to make way for the bangles and bracelets that adorned her arm from wrist to elbow. Unlike everyone else, she wore black military boots and also unlike the other girls, no stockings. Black seemed to be her color of choice. It was the same color as her untamable hair which stood out in stark contrast to her naturally pale, unsmiling features. She walked with both indifference and determination. In one hand, she carried her tray, in the other, a skateboard. Her companion, who Jag noticed slightly belatedly, dwarfed the petite girl with his height which was, most definitely, over 6 foot 2", Jag's own commanding height. The guy seemed less of a friend and more of a bodyguard, with his eyes mysteriously hidden by his shaggy brown hair that was so long it reached to nearly the tip of his nose. 

"Hey, Jaina; hey, Lowie," Jacen called as the two approached their table. Jag did a double take. No, it couldn't be. The girl approaching them with an onyx stud in her nose and loops up and down her ears could not be Jaina Solo. This gothic/skater or whatever she was trying to pull off could not be the smiling girl in sundresses with elaborate hair-do's and professionally done make-up that graced the covers of magazines and newspapers and was often shown on television with her family. This... _thing_ could not be the sister of kind hearted Jacen and cool, calm, and collected Anikan. His shock was cut short by her sharp address to him.

"Who the _hell_ are _you_?" Jag was sure storms in Antarctica were less harsh than her voice.

Jacen tried to restrain her. "Jaya, don't worry, this is a friend of mine-" 

"Jag Fel." There had been a challenge in her voice, and Jag Fel always rose to a challenge - this time, literally. At his height of over six feet, he felt he would easily be able to stare down her diminutive figure which could not be more than 5'6". But she looked up at him and locked eyes with fierce determination. 

Suddenly it occurred to Jag that he was... shrinking - for lack of a better word - under her cold, calculated gaze. Within a few minutes of meeting glares, he was at her eye level; then slowly, it became apparent that she was the one staring him down with her hard brown eyes. Unable to stand it any longer, Jag had to look away from her hateful, destructive stare. When he did so, he finally noticed his surroundings. No one ate; no one moved; no one talked; event the teachers sat in silence, watching the battle of wills.

"Sit down." Jag followed the acrimonious command without thought. He looked up at her now towering figure. She smirked in triumph but with no pleasure in her eyes, before taking her seat beside Zekk. Jag shaking turned around in his seat to face the rest of the table. No one moved; everyone stared. Jag looked at Jacen, his new found friend, for help from his malicious sister, but Jacen refused to meet his pleading eyes.

He caught a movement out of the corner of his eye and turned to look. Jaina took a bite from her meal. En masse, the rest of the table and cafeteria began to eat, slowly turning back to their previous conversations.

"Oh, and by the way," Jag once again looked at the frightening young woman who looked at him with an imperious glare and spoke with complete seriousness, "You will address me as Goddess."


	3. Staring

NOTE: all aliens have been turned to humans, as have droids (mostly)

Chapter 3: Staring

After Jaina's horrible defeat of him, things didn't tend to improve for Jag. Jacen stayed his friend and with him, most of the group accepted him into their circle at lunch, but it seemed that was only at lunch.

It was two weeks since Jag's first day, and he had heard time after time about the group's awesome parties _after_ they happened, even the crazy girl, Malinza, that was always forming protests and had a different petition to sign everyday was invited, but not Jag. He figured Jaina was a major part of the decision making process.

Jacen was always nice, though, and tried to include Jag as much as possible. With his lead, Tenel Ka and Tekli also accepted him without consideration of Jaina's icy attitude toward him. Alema seemed happy just to have another guy to flirt with, and Raynar was aloof with everyone, so Jag didn't expect much. Anakin was nice enough, but, honestly, too cool to care. He and Tahiri sat at the table, but that was about it. Zekk hated Jag just as much as Jag hated Zekk, so no loss there. But Tesar and Lowie were pretty cool; unfortunately, they were more inclined to follow Jaina than Jacen.

The lunch table seats stayed exactly the same with Jag stuck between cold Jaina and snobby Raynar. The only people who switched seats were Zekk, Lowie, and Tesar. They seemed to be competing to see who would be the one to sit next to Jaina. Honestly, Jag wondered why the guys were crazy enough to compete for the monster in black.

Now, two weeks after making friends with Jacen, he was on his way to hang out with Jacen and the others outside of school on a mid Friday afternoon. He'd been invited for dinner and to stay possibly overnight. Jag didn't know what to expect, but Jacen assured him everything would be casual - his mother wasn't hosting a state dinner or anything that night. They'd just hand, swim, maybe party (Jacen's words, not his).

Jag took his personal speed boat down the canal that led to the Presidential Palace. The canals were one of the things Jag loved about the Islands, few streets and mostly canals.

He finally reached the gate and made it through security.

The monstrous front door was opened before Jag could even knock by a rather prim and stiff butler.

"Ah, you must be Master Jagged. Master Jacen is expecting you. Please come in."

"Thank you." Jag was welcomed into an enormous foyer. He was hardly uncomfortable - his father was a baron, this was the type of home Jag was used to.

"You must be Jag," a petite woman came towards him with a warm smile on her face. The streaks od grey in her thick brunette hair highlighted her classic features.

Jag bent at the waist. "Pres-"

"Leia will do just fine, or, if you must, Mrs. Organa-Solo. There is no need for my sons' friends to be formal." Jag nodded, momentarily stunned by the friendliness of the greatest diplomat on the islands. Jacen obviously took after his mother. "Unfortunately, Jacen had to step out for a moment to bring Tenel Ka to the Hapan Embassy; her grandmother... needs her." Jag again nodded, this time not sure how to respond. "But I'm sure Jai- JAINA SOLO!"

Leia had turned towards the stairway and was now staring in speechless fury at her daughter. Jag himself was shocked. Jaina stood on the stairway in a bright red bra with nothing but a black fishnet top over it. A black scarf was tied around her hips in a sort of short, pseudo-skirt. Staring up at her, Jag couldn't help but notice her trim figure and toned legs.

"Jaina Solo," Leia's newly returned voice snapped Jag out of his shock. "I certainly _hope_ you were not planning on wearing that in _public_."

"Gee, Mom, thanks for thinking me that much of a slut. IUt's a bathing suit. I was planning on going swimming, you know, in our _private_ pool. Last time I check that wasn't illegal." Leia calmed down considerably.

"I'm sorry," she said with some difficulty. "Would you bring Jag with you-"

"Why? He's Jacen's friend not mine."

"Jacen had to bring Tenel Ka to the Embassy."

"How come?" Jag could have been wrong, and he probably was, but he thought he heard _concern_ in her voice.

"Ta'a Chume," Leia answered as though that explanation was enough, but Jaina seemed to think it was.

"Fine, I'll baby-sit 'til Jacen gets back."

"Well, thank you for your wonderful consideration of our guest," Leia said sarcastically.

Jaina faked a smile. "No problem, Mom." Jaina walked down the rest of the stairs. "Keep up, security doesn't like it when people wander around 'lost'." Jag followed her through the corridors, but after a few minutes, he began to believe that Jaina was messing with his mind by leading him in circles. Finally, they reached a door that Jaina actually led them through. It was huge with comfortable looking furniture and a giant entertainment system. She led him out the back French doors onto a large stone patio with an in-ground, Olympic-sized swimming pool in the center of it. A pool house was directly opposite the room they'd just come out of. Jaina stripped off her top and threw it onto a chair and untied the scarf from her hips which shortly joined the top.

_'This is Jaina Solo, the evil bitch you hate, who hates you! Her appearance revolts you; you've been enemies with her since you saw her. STOP STARING AT HER ASS!'_ he mentally yelled at himself. He finally looked away when she made a shallow dive into the pool.


	4. Hecate

Chapter 4: Hecate

"Janet Smith, please bring me that note now," Mrs. Skywalkler said without turning from the black board. The offender walked slowly from the back of the class and places the note on her front desk. "We'll talk after class."

"Yes, ma'am."

Jag couldn't believe Janet actually thought she'd get away with passing a note in class. Though she left her hair loose, wore casual clothes and was generally easy going, Mrs. Skywalker was one of the strictest teachers at the school. Even Jaina Solo pretended to pay attention to her. Were it not for the fact that Mrs. Skywalker was the wife of Headmaster Skywalker (a once rebellion leader against Dictator Palpatine), Jag would believe her to have been a spy for the former dictator because of her unreal ability to know everything that was going on in the classroom - including, Jag thought at times, her students thoughts.

"Today, we will continue reading Act III of Macbeth." Mrs. Skywalker began assigning parts to the class, and Jag couldn't help but smirk when Jaina Solo was assigned Hecate, the Goddess of Witchcraft. "Jaina, since you seem _so_ enthused," Mrs. Skywalker said sarcastically, "You can stand in front of the class to read your lines."

Jaina got up without hesitation and stood in front of the class and waited for her character's monologue. She seemed unperturbed by having everyone stare at her. didn't she get how foul-looking she was, dressed in black everywhere she could? Jag couldn't believe that just a few days ago he actually considered her somewhat pretty. So, she looked good in a bikini, that didn't change the horrendous visage, destructive behavior, and bitchy attitude she had the rest of the time -

"Have I not reason, beldams as you are, saucy and overbold?" Jaina's harsh words cut through Jag's thoughts.

She continued her monologue, and to Jag's complete confusion, she never once looked at her book. She recited Hecate's speech to the witches without faltering. Though she spoke as if she was completely bored by it, Jag could tell it was an act. A few times she slipped up and put inflection in her voice, and throughout, Jag could hear her accentuate every stressed syllable of the iambic pentameter.

After she was finished, she sat back in her seat, and Mrs. Skywalker had the class continue as if nothing out of the ordinary happened. And Jag had the strangest feeling that he was the only one who thought that it was out of the ordinary.

Next Chapter: "The Captain"


	5. The Captain

BTW: I know virtually nothing about fencing, so bear with me.

Chapter 5: The Captain

English IV AP with Mrs. Skywalker was the last class of the day. And on that particular Monday afternoon, Jag could not be happier that school was over for the day. It was the first day of tryouts for the fencing team and Jag couldn't wait.

He and Jacen walked silently to the gym. Though Jacen acted like there was something he wanted to tell Jag, he never actually said anything. They reached the gym and entered only to see a fairly large crowd was already gathered. Their usual lunch group, unfortunately including Jaina and Zekk, had already secured a section of the bleachers. 

Jagged was a champion on Csilla but had never competed on the national level. Yavin Academy had the best fencing team in the nation, and their captain last year, it was rumored, was slated to win an international competition until an unfortunate accident happened one week before and threw him out of the running. The year before that, as an underclassman, he had taken second place.

It irked Jag to see Jaina and Zekk trying out for such an honor that obviously neither deserved - they were wasting everyone's time. He didn't know who the captain from last year was (though he was probably in one of Jag's classes, at least), but he hoped that if his accident didn't throw him out of fencing all together and he was back again this year, that he would have enough sense and discretion to throw the two idiots out of the gym immediately.

"All right, everyone, settle down." A tall, dark haired, green eyed man called Kyp Durron was the fencing instructor and coach. Jacen had told him that Coach Durron was pretty lax and generally gave the captain full reign of the team, but you had to be the biggest moron in the world if you even thought about pissing him off. If the captain didn't set Jaina and Zekk straight, Kyp Durron surely would. Oh he couldn't wait to see this...


	6. Goddess of Yavin Academy

Chapter 6: Goddess of Yavin Academy

Everyone in the gymnasium was seated waiting for Coach Durron to start.

"All right, welcome. Before we start tryouts for this year, I'd like to introduce you to your captain…" He smirked. "National champion, freshman year; second place international championship, sophomore year; very nearly international champion, junior year; please join me in welcoming back our beloved captain from last year…"

The excitement was building all around Jag; obviously, this guy was well liked. With a quick look at the manic smile on Jacen's face, Jag almost thought it was him that was captain, but no, Jacen would have told him.

"All hail the Goddess, Miss Jaina Solo!" Everyone cheered. Zekk, Lowie, and Tesar slapped Jaina's back as she got up to join Coach Durron on the floor. All around Jag, people were bowing as she walked down the bleachers. Jacen cheered loudest for his twin sister, the smile never leaving his face. And as everyone cheered and hooted and bowed, Jag sat there completely confused by this turn of events. Jaina Solo. Jaina Solo? An international champion – not just that, but she'd be the one to decide if he would ever compete this year.

"Oh, Great One." Coach Durron gave her an exaggerated fancy bow and handed her a clipboard. They shared a few private words, giving the crowd enough time to settle down and Jag enough time to collect his thoughts. It wasn't true; it was a nightmare. Jaina Solo was just standing there, not even smiling. Had Jag been the one to be announced as captain, he'd break his solemn façade and do cartwheels for joy, but she didn't even care. She was being worshipped, and she was bored by it. If there had been any part of him that didn't loathe her, it did now. He was so supersaturated with hate for her that he didn't think he could stand it, and Jacen couldn't wipe that stupid smile off his face!

"Everyone, listen up." She didn't shout it, but the crowd heard her and was silenced immediately. "All those from last year's first string are on again." Jacen, Tenel Ka, Zekk, Lowie, Tear, and Anakin got up and joined Jaina and Durron on the gym floor. "For those of you that don't know, this is the best friggin' team in the country. We have three spots available for this year. Practices are every week day for two hours and Saturdays for four. You get on this team then you come to all of them unless working it out with Kyp or me beforehand. I don't cut second string, but if you ever want to get time in, you have to be at practices as well. You have five minutes to dress out before we start tryouts." Jag got up with everyone and followed the guys to the locker room.

"Jag, listen," Jacen said as the two got redressed into workout clothes. "My sister despises you, but she's a perfectionist when it comes to fencing. If you're good enough for the team, she won't let her personal feelings get in the way."

Jag had to doubt Jacen. Jaina was obviously not someone who could just disregard how she felt about a person. "I hope you're right."

"Trust me, I am. I mean you were gonna be captain at your old school weren't you?"

Jag frowned, he didn't remember telling Jacen about that. "How did you…?"

"I mentioned you to Kyp one night at dinner. He said he's heard of you."

"One night at dinner?"

"Sure my parents have him over for dinner at least one night a week." _So that's how she did it,_ Jag mused. _Her parents made friends with the coach, and all the rumors about her must be just that, rumor, hype, something that money and power and family name could buy. _The two finished and walked out of the locker room. "Good luck," Jacen called over his shoulder as he ran over to his sister and enveloped her in a congratulatory hug. She barely even hugged back.

Jag didn't get it. Jacen never seemed to try to be close with Jaina; they had different friends, opposite personalities, and separate lives, yet Jacen was happier for his sister captaincy than he would have been for his own.

Tryouts went well for Jag, he easily beat most of his competition. Tenel Ka won by several points when he sparred with her, and Jacen destroyed him, but he beat Raynar and Zekk – he took special pleasure in beating Zekk three times – among other vying for the coveted positions on the famous team.

He had wanted to see Jaina fence, see if she was as good as everyone hyped her up to be, but she didn't spar with anyone. Instead she and Coach Durron walked around, clipboards in hand, jotting down notes on the short matches.

"You want a ride to your house?" Jacen asked as they were walking out of school.

"No thanks, I got my own."

"Okay, cool, see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, okay." Jacen and their friend's piled onto Jacen's boat and sped off for Coruscant.

During lunch the next day, Jaina slept across Lowie's and Zekk's laps with her book bag under her head as a pillow. Jag heard all about the party for Jaina that lasted until the Presidential Palace security broke it up at four AM; it seemed as though everyone in the junior and senior classes, plus a few sophomores and freshmen, had something to say about how awesome it was, everyone except Jag.

"Hey, Danni," Jacen waved to a girl as she walked by.

"Oh, hi, Jacen. So, I heard you had a party last night."

"Oh yeah, it was pretty awesome."

"Well, that's nice." She smiled at him and walked off. As Jacen and Anikan recounted the story of how Raynar had gotten so drunk that he had jumped into the pool with all his clothes on, Jag watched as Danni went and sat at her table. Maybe Jag wasn't the only one who hadn't been considered for the guest list after all. Even conservative Jacen, "holy-than-thou" Raynar, and shy Tekli had hangovers that morning, but Jacen's supposed friends like Jag, and now Danni – who Jag guessed was not a friend of Jaina's either – hadn't even been considered for the guest list to the greatest party of the year – yet another reason to detest Jaina Solo, the Goddess of Yavin Academy.


	7. Eight out of Ten

Chapter 7: Eight out of Ten

That day, after school, was the first practice. The team roster with the team ranks was posted outside the gym.

"Hey, congrats man," Jacen said before Jag could get through the crowd to the list.

"I'm on?"

"Yep, ranked above Raynar and Zekk. Personally, I think you should have been ranked above Tahiri, but not my decision, besides ranks aren't set in stone. Win enough sparring matches consistently and a few competitions and you're rank'll be bumped up."

"Right." They walked into the gym via the locker room, but Jag felt dazed. He was eighth; he who would have been captain had he stayed on Csilla was ranked eight out of ten. He couldn't breathe.

Jaina paired him with Tahiri for a sparring partner as if to mock him and his rank below her. For the first hour, the team did various exercises then sparred for the last hour.

Halfway through the sparring, Tahiri asked for a water break. Jag agreed; he could use a break, but before he could raise his bottle to his lips, he saw something he never thought he'd see. He never imagined one person could have so much intensity, let alone two. The Solo twins were sparring on the far side of the mat as though their lives depended on winning. Jaina was winning but only just. Based on everything Jag knew about Jaina, Jag figured her for a scrappy fighter, taking cheap shots to win, not the graceful fencer who mastered the most difficult stance in fencing. He had never seen anyone so powerful in how they handled an epée.

Jag swore to himself that he would have that – if he did nothing else in his senior year, he would beat Jaina Solo in a fencing match.

"Don't even think about it."

"Think about what, Zekk?"

"Jaina Solo."

"What about her?"

"She'll never give you the time of day, so don't even think about it."

"I don't know what you're talking about, Zekk."

"You think you're the first guy who's ever looked at her like that?"

"I'm just watching a sparring match, nothing else. I don't know what you're getting at, but trust me when I say that I really don't give a damn about even befriending your girlfriend."

"Just stay away from her." Jag stared at the boy who stood in front of him, arms crossed over his chest, trying to stare him down. He didn't know where this kid was coming from or what he was doing trying to look tough.

"Are your seriously trying to intimidate me? You're like five-ten and puny as hell." Zekk clenched his fists as though he were about to through a punch.

"Zekk, shouldn't you being sparring with Raynar, not messing with my partner?" Tahiri cut in. Zekk stalked away, and Tahiri grinned up at Jag. "I think we're gonna get along just fine."

They were locked into their sparring before Tahiri spoke again, "If you want, you can come over to my place and we can practice more before the first competition."

"Uh," Jag glanced over to where Anakin was sparring with Tenel Ka, "No thanks, I don't need any more jealous boyfriends."

Tahiri frowned. "More? You already have one?" Jag was about to explain about what Zekk had said, but she didn't give him the chance. "Geez, you move fast!" She laughed. "It took Anakin at least a month!"

Several of sparring matches later, Coach Durron called for practice to end. The team members headed to their respective locker rooms to shower and change.

Anakin stopped Jag as they walked through the door. "So, what do you think of my girl?"

Oh God, Jag thought, not Anakin too. "I, well, I, uh…" Anakin was staring at him with a knit brown in utter confusion.

"I think what Fel's trying to say is that he's thinking of her as more than just a sparring partner," Zekk called from across the room.

_"What?"_

Zekk didn't give Jag a chance to respond. "Oh yeah, seems Fel's getting into all the girls around here. He was eyeing Jaina earlier."

**_"What?"_** this time Anakin's cry was joined by Jacen's as well.

"No, I wasn't eyeing Jaina, or Tahiri for that matter." Anakin glared at him, but let it drop and stalked off to the showers. Jag glared at Zekk who smirked in return.

"Jag." Jag turned to look at his friend.

"Jacen, I swear, I do not think of your sister like that. You know that I don't even like her."

"Oh." Jacen followed the rest of the guys into the shower room, but Jag stood where he was. He couldn't be sure, but it sound a lot like Jacen was disappointed in that admission. Why did Solos have to be so damn confusing?


	8. Disturbed

Chapter 8: Disturbed

It was two hours after practice on Saturday ended before Jag realized he'd left his cell phone in the auxiliary gym.

The side door near the gym was thankfully open; teachers were probably working or something. As he neared the auxiliary gym, he could hear the sound of someone punching and kicking a bag. He walked into the room to see Jaina Solo fiercely working at the punching bag in the corner. She had discarded the tank top she'd worn earlier in the day and was now only in her sports bra and cut off black sweat pants. Sweat dripped from her body.

"You just going to stand there and stare, or are you going to come in?" She never looked away from her bag.

"Sorry," he stammered out.

"Well, that's one I never thought I'd hear coming from you." She steadied the bag and turned away from it, towards him, all the while stretching and moving around so her muscles wouldn't cramp.

"I was just looking for my cell." He composed himself quickly.

She cocked her head and regarded him for a moment. "Hm… odd place to look for it – standing in the doorway. Especially when you could have asked me. Your girlfriend called about a half hour ago."

"My…?"

"Some girl named Shawnkyr. She didn't seem too happy that I answered your phone."

"You answered my phone!"

"It was ringing. I get annoyed when objects make noises that disrupt my concentration." She grabbed the phone off the floor and tossed it to him. "By the way, next time, turn your cell off. Having it ring during practice is a good way to piss Kyp off."

He nodded at the advice, but couldn't help himself. "Why don't you respect him?"

"There are a lot of people that I have no respect for. You're going to have to be a bit more specific."

"Coach Durron."

"I respect him, he's my coach."

"Then why do you call him by his first name?"

"Because he babysat me when I was two," she said as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"But you're not two anymore."

"He's been having dinner at my house on a regular basis since he was nineteen. He asks me and my brothers to call him Kyp. It's weird calling him anything else – for us and for him – so save your lecture." Jag still refused to yield to her argument; he was brought up where it was improper for someone to address their superiors in the way that she did. After a few moments, she seemed to give up trying to convince him to see it her way and walked over to a bench press. "Mind spotting me?" She nodded to the weights.

"Um… sure," he replied, startled by her sudden change in attitude. He stood behind her as she lay down and began her bench presses. They were silent as she steadily pumped the weighted bar up and down. Jag tried to focus on something other than her. It was Jaina after all, but then again, he was a male and she was wearing nothing but a bra, shorts, and sweat bands on her arms. She thankfully only made him spot for a few minutes before she put the bar back on the rack and got up.

"Thanks," she said as she passed him on her way to the treadmill. He shook his head; he had never figured her for such a dedicated exerciser.

"How long do you work out?"

"Five hours on weekdays, 'til I collapse on weekends."

"Everyday?" He tried to be unimpressed, but it was impossible. Not even his father or the native people of Csilla forced that rigorous a training.

She shrugged it off, "Yeah."

"That's why you're so good?"

"Good at…?" she asked with a raised brow.

"Fencing," he said, annoyed. What else would he be asking about? Then he realized what she had been implying. It took all the self control he had to not blush. Instead, he focused on her.

She stopped her steady run, got off, and walked toward him a bit.

"Good in general…or better than you?"

He shifted uncomfortably, disturbed that she could read him so well. "Both."

"I'm good at fencing because I've been doing it since I could hold an epée, and because I work my ass off for it."

"And you're better than me because…?"

She looked at him for a moment before answering. "You're strong, fast, intelligent. You don't let your feelings get in the way while you spar. You were obviously trained very well, and you have a lot of potential."

"You still didn't answer the question."

"You're fast but stiff. You keep your emotions out of it, but if you do slip up, you don't know how to cope and use them to your advantage. You were trained to very specific moves, and your potential allows you to pick up on others quickly, but you can't improvise for yourself. That's why you'll never beat me."

"That's it?" he asked sarcastically.

She smirked. "My God, no, I left out the most important part."

"Which is?" She walked up to him, stopping about a foot away.

"You think too much. You don't feel, let go, lose yourself in what you're doing. You're afraid to get intense," her voice dropped low and she took another step forward, touching their bodies together. "Why are you so afraid to get intense, Jag?" she whispered. Jag could do nothing but stand and stare at her. Her gaze was still calculating, but Jag realized she was just trying to figure him out, rather than judge him.

"I have to go." He walked quickly out of the gym. He knew that if he hadn't left, he would have done something very foolish. Damn Jaina Solo for getting into his mind. She obviously, purposefully tried to manipulate him into doing something foolish, so she could mock him for all eternity for it.

Still, as he walked out of the building, he couldn't shake the feeling that had come over him or the picture in his mind about what he had been about it to do, and Jag couldn't figure out what disturbed him more, what she had done to him or what he had almost done to her.


	9. Desperate

Chapter 9: Desperate

Jag didn't want to be there. He was with his family on the Hapan Island Cluster at a stupid ball that caused him to miss practice that day. Luckily, it was Coach Durron that he'd talked to, not Jaina. Had Jaina been the one to decide whether or not it was okay for him to miss practice, she would have said "no", but his parents would have still made him go, and he would be kicked off the team for it.

He did a double take as the next group of people entered the stately hall. He'd have been a fool if he didn't expect President and Captain Solo, at the very least, to be at the ball thrown by the royal family of Hapes; after all, Jag had already seen Jacen who was escorting Tenel Ka – no, Her Royal Highness Tenel Ka, he couldn't let himself forget that for the night she was a princess.

But nothing could have prepared him for the sight of Jaina Solo walking in behind her parents and next to Anakin and Tahiri. The deep red gown she wore did her amazing figure justice. She looked like how he'd always seen her on the covers of his little sister Wyn's glamour magazines, how, until recently, he'd always pictured her. And he had pictured her, many times, as every guy had pictured her. She was model thin with perfectly toned limbs and a pretty face, the famous daughter of famous and rich parents, and though he'd only ever seen it in magazines and on television, her smile could stop a man dead from a mile away. Of course, now he knew that her smile was forced; now he knew that her personality wasn't as fun as the articles said; now he couldn't figure out why the other guys that knew her still fawned over her like she was some sort of goddess.

His parents began making their way to greet the Solo family, and Jag followed, knowing it was what they wanted.

"Soontir, Syal, good to see you," President Solo greeted his parents warmly. They greeted her in turn, but Jag noted that Captain Solo and his father ignored each other completely. Jag moved to greet Anakin and Tahiri, but they'd already disappeared, and he was left with Jaina.

"Hey," he greeted her uncomfortably. Ever since that day at the gym, Jaina had left him alone. Instead of verbally tearing him apart everyday at lunch, she ignored him completely. But at practice, he could feel her watching him, though she said nothing. In response, Jaina simply nodded her head in his general direction.

Their families began moving farther into the ballroom; Jaina and Jag followed.

"Jag," his mother whispered in his ear, "Ask Jaina to dance." Of course, his mother didn't really want her son to dance with Jaina Solo, but it was the politically polite thing to do. He knew he would never get into politics.

"Jaina, would you…um…" Jaina rolled her eyes and stuck out her gloved hand for him to take.

"My mother already gave me the lecture." She allowed him to lead her on to the dance floor. They naturally fell into their respective roles.

"So, you need a lecture to dance with me, huh?" he tried to joke but immediately cursed himself afterwards. He'd never been a funny guy. Sure, he had a great sense of humor, but not too many people ever got when he was trying to make them laugh, and forcing such a thing on Jaina Solo was most definitely suicide. He waited for the inevitable lash out that he could only pray would be quiet enough so as not to draw attention from the crowd – their parents would be sure to murder them then. She stared at him for a moment with a completely blank expression before allowing a small not-even-half-grin that Jag took for one of amusement.

"Oh yeah, a really long, drawn out one, a few hours at least; it was so long, I wasn't even able to lighta fire under the cauldron before we had to leave."

Jag was surprised at her humor but gave his own mutated rendition of an amused expression anyway. He never expected her to joke back, especially in the way she did. But the ice was broken, and he could feel her relax slightly in his arms.

"You dance like you spar," she commented suddenly.

"How do you mean?"

"Stiff, formal, choreographed, though I must admit, you have been improving in the last few practices. Taking my advice to heart possibly?"

Jag refused to humor her wicked grin and simply said, "I honestly didn't think you'd pay attention to my sparring skills enough to realize anything."

"Who says I wasn't watching Tahiri and simply noticed that her sparring partner was getting closer to being evenly matched with her? Besides, people can call me a lot of things, and I'm sure they do, but no one can accuse me of being a bad captain." But Jag knew he'd make a better one.

The waltz ended and they stepped away from each other. As the Hapan Royal Waltz began to play, everyone moved off the dance floor. Jag watched as the Queen Mother stepped onto the dance floor with her husband next to her and Tenel Ka and Jacen following. Jag didn't think he's ever seen a more complicated dance.

"What happens if they miss a step?" he mused aloud.

"They keep the heads in a room down the hall," Jaina replied without missing a beat.

"A very cheerful room, I'm sure."

"Oh yeah, wanna see?" Jag looked at Jaina, startled.

"What?"

"Just go along with it, and I'll get us out of here." Jaina slipped away and Jag followed.

"I can't believe I'm doing this," Jag whispered as they weaved through the crowd as inconspicuously as possible.

"Just don't let your parents see and we'll be fine."

They finally got to a secluded exit and, with a quick glance around, ducked through the doorway and into an enclosed garden. Jaina led them to the farthest corner and plopped down on a bench. Jag sat next to her.

"This doesn't mean I like you any more than I ever have – I'm just desperate."

"Same here."

"Good."

"So…" he said after a few minutes of uncomfortable silence.

"So." It seemed like he would be the one making the conversation.

"Where's Zekk?" he asked simply trying to fill the void.

"Zekk? Are you honestly saying you could see Zekk here?"

"You're here."

"But I grew up in this; besides, mother dearest dragged me out of the house and contrary to popular belief, Zekk and I are not attached at the hip."

"He's an idiot," he muttered.

"Excuse me?"

"Zekk is an idiot for making you come without a date and a terrible boyfriend."

Jaina laughed. No, it wasn't a laugh; mocking cackle would be a better name for what she did. "If you think Zekk's my boyfriend, then you're the idiot."

"He's – he's not?"

"That ship sailed and sank a while ago."

"Right." What was it about Jaina Solo that made him feel like such a moron?

"Anyway, what about your girlfriend? Why's she making you come to this without a date?"

"Who are you talking about?"

"The girl who's call I answered."

"That was Shawnkyr. She gave me crap for that by the way. She's just a friend though…" Jag trailed off when he realized Jaina had stopped paying attention to what he was saying.

She sighed in exasperation and bent over to undo her shoe straps. Black curls rolled off her shoulders, and Jag once again found himself transfixed by her.

"Never wear heels."

"I wasn't planning on it, actually."

"Oh good, I'd be kinda freaked out if you were." She straightened and fixed her top. "God, I hate this dress."

"You look nice."

"Well, I'd be much more comfortable if I was wearing-"

"Black?" Jag offered.

"Work out clothes. Somehow I doubt the dress being black would make it any easier to breathe. But, yeah, black, I guess I do wear it a lot."

"You guess?"

"Alright – I _do_ wear it a lot."

"Why?"

"'Why' what?" She was trying to antagonize him, he knew, and as much as Jag hated it, she was close to succeeding

"You know what."

"Not necessarily, I mean, you could be asking a lot of things. Why do I insist on eating Cheerios without milk every morning? Why do I continue to call Tenel Ka 'Teekay', even though she has asked me to stop at least once a week for the past twelve years we've known each other? Why do I torture myself by watching the dumbass movies that Anakin picks out? Why haven't I shaved my head and joined a cult on Ylesia…?"

"Why do you always wear black?"

"I don't. Case and point: there's no speck of black on me at the moment." She held out her arms to indicate that he could check if he wanted to.

"Why do you _usually_ wear black?"

She was silent for a few minutes, as though she was trying to decide why to let him in on some huge, important secret. "You know, no one's really ever asked me that. They just tend to assume whatever they want to." She was silent again, then took a deep breath and said, "I'm in mourning."

At first Jag was shocked and sorry for the girl sitting next to him. Then he realized what she was doing. It was just another Jaina Solo mind trick. "Oh, yeah, who are you in mourning over?" he asked mockingly.

"Someone I never really got to know," she spat at him. In a flash she was on her feet, shoes back on, and headed towards the ballroom. "They'll start to notice if you're gone too long."

It wasn't until after she disappeared back inside that he got up and followed her.


	10. Headache

Chapter 10: Headache

"Jag." He turned when Anakin called his name.

"Hi, Anakin."

"Listen," the younger boy said, "Tahiri told me about what you two were talking about at practice. I should've known Zekk was just trying to mess with me."

"Hey, no problem."

"It's just that, I mean, she's my girl, man. And, anyway, I'm…" Jag could hear Anakin's hesitance but didn't push. "I'm sorry for jumping to conclusions."

"It's fine."

"So, we're good?"

"Of course." Anakin nodded and headed over to where Tahiri was waiting on the other side of the hall.

"Now that wasn't so hard was it?" he could hear Tahiri say as the couple walked away, their normal entourage following.

Jag ducked into his Biology class and took his seat as the warning bell rang. Zekk sauntered through the door just after the tardy bell and took the long way to his seat in the far corner of the classroom, ignoring the glares he was receiving from Mrs. Sebatyne.

"Class," their teacher hissed out, and everyone fell silent. "Today, this class will begin a new lab; however, because of last week's… mishap…" There were several snickers spread throughout the room. Lowie and Tesar high-fived then threw grins towards where Jaina and Zekk sat, both of whom were probably pleased with themselves. "Lab groups will be switched."

Of course, had it been any other group to set not only their own lab station on fire but three others as well, Mrs. Sebatyne would surely throw them out of class and never let them do another lab, but no, it was Goddess Jaina's group in which one of the members was Mrs. Sebatyne's son.

"Lowie, Tesar, Raynar, and Ganner in group one… Jacen, Malinza, Tenel Ka, and Ja-" she cut herself off and suinted at the list she had in her hands. _'Please say my name, please say my name,'_ Jag silently begged. "Excuse this one, and Jeffery in group two… Jaina, Zekk-" There was a loud clap of hands in the back where the two had obviously slapped hands. "Danni-"

This time a loud shout of joy came from the two. They were certainly pleased that they had the girl whose name was always praised by the teachers; the girl in question had turned beet red as the two chanted, "We got Danni, we got Danni…"

"If Jaina and Zekk don't mind…?" The teacher reprimanded, and the chanting duo quieted. "And Jagged in group three…"

Everyone in the class and jumped and turned to look as a loud bang echoed in the room. Jaina Solo had slammed her head on the desk in front of her and was now moaning – whether in pain or complete dismay that Jag was in her group, he had no idea, maybe both.

"Is Jaina all right?" Mrs. Sebatyne called from the front of the class.

"Just peachy, Mrs. S," she answered without moving her head from the desk. The class went back to facing forward. Just as Mrs. Sebatyne took a breah to read the next group names, Jaina continued, "I do have a headache though."

"Perhaps Jaina should have thought of that before smashing her head against her desk."

"Wow, Mrs. S, you're so smart. I wish I could be as smart as you…"

"Flattery will not get Jaina a pass to the nurse."

"Damnit."

"Language."

"Sorry, Mrs. S."

Mrs. Sebatyne took her roll book back up to begin again but paused before reading and said, "Is Jaina done disrupting this class now?"

Everyone looked back at Jaina who lifted her head off her desk and pretended to be in deep thought. "I'm good for now; thanks for asking though."

"Oh, of course," Mrs. Sebatyne said dryly, then continued reading off her list, but Jag wasn't paying attention. The entire class had been in stitches while Jaina and Mrs. Sebatyne had their exchange. Of course, he was not included in that generalization, and as he glanced over to Danni, who was pouring over her textbook in deep concentration and biting her lip, he guessed that he wasn't the only one.

After all the names had been called, the lab groups went to their stations.

Jag's group sat down; he, unfortunately, managed to get stuck next to Jaina. It was the Monday after the royal ball, and she had yet to even glance his way since storming out of the garden. He didn't know her to be so affected by what others say, but she was particularly icy towards him that morning.

"Jaina, how's your headache?" Danni asked.

"Oh, well, I get the feeling I'm going to have it for a while." She glared pointedly at Jag.

"Yeah, me too," he replied in kind. She raised an eyebrow at his tone but said nothing ad simply turned to a notebook she'd brought and started scribbling in it.

"Working on that hit list, Jaina?" Zekk asked, trying to peer over the table to see what Jaina was writing.

"Always."

"Yeah, how's it coming?"

"Oh, you know how it is… someone pisses me off then buys me a gift; it's all very complicated."

"I can imagine. But the person who's been at the top is still there right?"

"Oh yeah, that spot hasn't moved for several weeks. Bobby Ernsberger really pissed me off a couple weeks back, but he only got second."

Jag glanced at Danni to see what she made of the exchange, but she was already entranced by the assignment that had been passed out. Jaina and Zekk seemed to be deadly serious in their discussion, but they couldn't be, could they?


	11. For Once

A/N: Though the Force does not exist in this fic, the Jedi do. They are kind of a cross between the Secret Service and the CIA. JEDI Judicial and Executive Defense and Intelligence.

Chapter 11: For Once

"So, should we get started?" Danni asked.

"Uh, yeah, you do that," Zekk replied.

"C'mon, Zekk, we gotta be responsible students," Jaina mockingly scolded him, but then added a bit more seriously, "Besides, if Kyp finds out you've skipped doing another lab, he'll murder you."

"How did he find out about that anyway? Do you think Mrs. S told him? I always figured her for a spy."

"Oh, yes, Saba Sebatyne, Yavin Academy's own undercover Jedi operative."

"Well, you never know who's in that. And your uncle _did_ start it."

"Yes, I'm aware of his accomplishments," Jaina responded dryly. "So, Danni, when's this thing due?" Danni handed her the assignment sheet.

"Friday, we have work to do in class and at home." Jaina studied the sheet for a moment.

"It'll be more efficient if we break up the work," Jiana said, suddenly and uncharacteristically all business. "How 'bout Zekk and I do this…" she showed Danni the sheet and pointed out a section of instructions, "And you and Fel do that. Then we can do the in class work as an entire group."

Danni nodded and, Jag noted, blushed slightly, causing her soft green eyes to brighten. Jag seemed to be noticing the girl who would occasionally say a word or two to the people at his table a lot lately. The shy blonde was much different than a certain moody, over dramatic brunette; she was kinder, more honest, and vastly more intelligent. "That will work."

When the assignment sheet finally got passed to Jag, he looked at how Jaina had divided the work. She had assigned herself and Zekk infinitely less than she had Danni and Jag, but he never got the chance to protest.

The bell rang, and after what looked like a few harsh words to Danni, Jaina disappeared through the door with Zekk, Lowie and Tesar.

"Um, Jag?" Danni, it seemed, had been waiting for him just outside the door. "Since, um, we have to work together and all, I was thinking that maybe you might sit with me at lunch; you know, we could figure out where we'll work, and I know you sit with Jacen, but I just thought, it would be a good idea…"

"Yeah, I'd – that sounds good."

"Okay, then, um, you know where I sit?"

"Yeah, yeah, I know where you sit."

"So, I'll see you then."

"Yeah, see you then." She smiled then hurried away to her next class.

Lots of work meant lots of time together. Jag smiled. For once, he was happy with what Jaina had decided.

The other couple of classes before lunch flew by for Jag. He was too preoccupied with thinking about his new blonde lab partner to really pay attention to anything. He knew that most of their time together would be all work, but he still hoped that they would be able to get to know each other better, though he had no idea what they would talk about. He just hoped that their lunch conversation would be mostly about the work, so he would not have to make small talk.

As usual, Jag made his way into the cafeteria with the regular group at the lunch bell. Jaina suddenly appeared amidst the group, an unusual occurrence, as she was usually with Lowie, Zekk, and Tesar. She grabbed Tenel Ka by the upper arm and held onto her as they walked, whispering into her ear urgently.

Tenel Ka suddenly gasped and pulled away to whisper something into Jacen's ear. He looked confused for a moment, and then allowed a small smirk to appear on his face. Tenel Ka and Jaina went back to chatting in low tones.

The group arrived at their table, but Jag kept walking until he felt a tug on his arm.

"Hey, Jag, you preoccupied with something? You missed the table."

"No, I'm actually sitting with Danni today. You know, so we can go over the lab and stuff." He continued on his path towards Danni's table, but he could have sworn he heard Tenel Ka mutter, "I told you so."

Jag set his tray down beside Danni and greeted her as casually as he could.

"Oh, hi, Jag," she replied shyly. There were three other students at the table, all of whom were too entranced by their work to even look up.

"Talkative," he muttered to himself.

Danni giggled beside him. None of the girls at his usual table giggled, maybe Tahiri or Alema from time to time, but he had never heard Jaina or Tenel Ka giggling. He didn't even think it was possible for either of them to giggle, unless it was Jaina laughing with girlish glee after finally carrying out her hit list and beheading him with a blunt machete or something as equally grotesque and terrifying.

'_Focus,'_ he scolded himself, and finally managed to ask, "So, have you thought about where we could work?"

"Oh, well, the library is always nice…" As great as the library was for studying, it was hardly good for Jag if he had any intention of getting to know Danni any better.

"How about we do it at my house? It's pretty quiet as long as we lock my little sister out of whatever room we decide to work in."

Her eyes lit up. "That sounds great. I don't go over to friends' houses very often. When do you want to start working on it?"

"You could come over tonight."

"Your parents won't mind?"

"Not at all."

"Okay."

A loud exclamation came from the Solo twins' table.

"I wonder what that was all about," Danni commented.

"I don't know. Jaina and Tenel Ka were whispering about something earlier while I was walking over here."

"What?" she asked with a hint of trepidation in her voice.

"I don't know. I didn't really hear, but Tenel Ka told Jacen something then said something like 'I told you so' a little later."

"Oh… weird," she frowned in an almost betrayed sort of way and was silent for a moment. "You know if you want, you can go sit with your friends," she said to Jag though she stared at her plate.

"I am sitting with a friend." Danni turned and beamed at him.

The two fell into comfortable silence as they began eating their lunch. Jag occasionally felt Danni watching him, but whenever he turned to look, she was already focusing on her food.

Jag really couldn't eat. He was trying to figure out how to get the shy blonde to open up, and how he would get himself to open up to her.

He knew that school and practice would not go fast enough.


	12. Sore Subject

Thanks to Chimpo and Redd for the reviews. And ultra special thanks to KillerRomance, my fantastic beta!

Chapter 12: Sore Subject

"So, Fel, you and Danni were looking pretty cozy at lunch today," Zekk said as they came out of the locker room and headed towards their respective sparring areas.

Jag refused to respond hoping it would deter Zekk; no such luck.

"I suppose that will put Anakin's mind at ease. Me too, now that you're not so set on having my girl."

Jag stopped and turned to face him, glad to finally have one up on the annoying prick. "From what I hear she's not your girl."

"Well, who ever told you that was seriously misinformed."

"Funny, you'd think Jaina would be aware of her own dating status."

"You're lying."

"What? She didn't tell you about how our little alone time at the ball on Friday night."

Zekk seemed to be in speechless fury. Jag smirked and began to walk away.

"Be sure to ask Danni for a back massage. They're to die for. Besides, she's already done it for all the other guys on the team," Zekk said with an evil grin, and then, as he brushed past Jag, hissed out, "And some of the girls too."

Jag was dumbfounded. Danni wasn't like that; she couldn't be. Zekk was just trying to mess with him.

He walked over to Tahiri who was busy warming up. She would know the truth, wouldn't she?

"Tahiri, what do you know about Danni Quee?"

Her head shot up. "Don't say that name!" she warned. Glancing around furtively, she stopped what she was doing and walked over to him before continuing in a low voice, "She's a really sore subject around here."

"Why?"

"Her and Jaina… don't… get along. I don't know why, no one does, so don't ask."

Jag got a strange feeling that he might know why.

She continued, "It's just between them, no one else."

"Zekk seems to have a problem with her too," Jag commented trying to get more information.

"Zekk has a problem with everyone… Jag, I get that you're curious about the girl you're dating, but I _don't_ know. Please just drop it."

"We're not dating," he automatically corrected. She rolled her eyes.

"Just give it time. Anyway, as a friend, I'm saying leave it alone. The feud is between Jaina and Danni. None of us are sure why or how or even what happened, but no one is very eager to be the one to ask."

Just as Jag was agreeing to drop it, the door to Coach Durron's office flew open and Jaina stormed out.

"Tahiri, Fel," she snapped. Out of the corner of his eye, Jag saw Anakin whip around at the sound of the name order which Jaina had chosen. _'Great,'_ he thought. Jaina continued her shouting, "We have our first match in two weeks, and you're just standing around! Get to work and stop chatting!"

"She could have at least said please," Tahiri quietly mock-grumbled as they prepared themselves for sparring. Jag only half smiled. He was too caught up in trying to figure out what had happened and what Zekk meant about Danni to fully appreciate Tahiri's humor or to see her epée come flying at him.


	13. Jaina Solo Fashion 101

Thanks to my reviewer here and on the boards, you guys rock!

Thank you, KillerRomance, who, for the first time, had no criticism on this chapter!

Chapter 13: Jaina Solo Fashion 101

"Hi," Danni said when he opened the door.

"Hey, come on in."

"Thank you." She stepped in and smiled up at him. "What happened?" Her fingers tenderly grazed the long red scratch on Jag's cheek.

"Oh, fencing, it's nothing," he shrugged it off hoping it didn't make him sound like he couldn't fence.

"Ah, yes, the amazing flying epées, I remember them well."

"Did you use to fence?"

"No, I had some friends who do, but that was a long time ago." She looked away uncomfortably.

Jag silently fumed. She probably lost those friends because of Jaina. How could someone be so cruel to a girl as sweet as Danni seemed to be? He wanted to press for more information, but Danni already seemed upset enough.

"So, um, do you want to study in the den?" he asked breaking the uncomfortable silence that had fallen after Danni's admission.

"That sounds fine."

Jag led her to the den. After they entered, his sister Wyn immediately looked up from the magazine she was reading.

"What happened to your face?"

"We need this room to study, leave."

"After I finish this article." She picked up her magazine showing off the cover photo of Jaina and Tenel Ka posing together in the same gowns they wore to the ball on Friday night. Deciding, for some unknowable reason, that Jag and Danni would actually want to know what she was reading about, Wyn began to tell them in her usual fast paced rhythm, "According to this, elbow length gloves – which everyone thought would only be in style for last winter – are still in high fashion. It says that Jaina Solo swears by them and that she'll wear them everywhere that requires some dressing up. Like at the ball, she was wearing these gorgeous ones with really beautiful embroidery. I wonder if she meant that she'd wear them to clubs as well…"

Worried about how the rant on Jaina's fashion tastes – which he felt were rather questionable – would affect Danni, he turned to apologize for his sister, but the blonde looked like she was barely containing her laughter.

"Oh, and the article has this fun facts section; according to it, Jaina Solo and I wear the same kind of makeup. I wonder how she gets the colors she wears. I've never seen them in any stores."

Danni finally laughed at that. Wyn glared at the two of them and stomped off.

"I'm sorry; I just couldn't help it."

"It's fine," he assured her.

"So, I take it your little sister is a fan of Jaina Solo."

"Unfortunately, yes."

"I thought you and Jaina were friends. I mean, you sit next to her everyday."

"I'm friends with Jacen, not Jaina, unless by friends you mean that she takes special enjoyment in torturing me at every chance she gets, then yes, we're friends."

"Huh."

"What?"

"Nothing, just from what I know of her from going to the same exact school with her since the first grade, I wouldn't think that she'd let just anyone sit next to her, but maybe Jacen managed to convince her, I don't know…"

"You've been going to school with her since the first grade? How did you survive?"

"Well, I used to have my best friend with me."

"She moved?"

"Disappeared."

"Oh, I – I'm sorry."

"It's fine." She quickly wiped a finger under her eye. "I can't believe I actually told you that… um… can we just work on the lab?"

"Yeah, yeah, of course."


	14. Fear Factor

A huge _thanks_ to my absolutely fantastic beta, **JaggednJaded** who was a huge inspiration for the last part of the chapter, and, in fact helped to write it! Thank you all for your excellent reviews! If you ever have a question you want answered, just ask, I can't promise anything but I'll try!

Chapter 14: Fear Factor

Jag got out of his speed boat the next morning feeling good about himself. Other than the rather terrible start the night before with Danni, they managed to have a good time – or as good a time as one could have while doing homework.

He saw the pretty blonde in question heading towards the school from the water taxi that ran between Coruscant and the Academy. Jag was about to get the girl's attention when Jaina ran up and jerked her around. He couldn't see Danni's face, but Jaina's features were contorted, as usual, in anger, eyes hard as stone. He knew that whatever the brunette bitch was saying, it had to be upsetting Danni. Jag moved to intervene, but both girls turned and stalked off, mirroring each other's images as Danni went towards the school and Jaina met up with Lowie near the water way.

Jag ran to catch up with his friend who he immediately saw trying to open her locker in the senior hall.

"Hey, Danni." She turned around, startled.

"Oh, hi."

"Are you okay?"

"Of course, why wouldn't I be?" She smiled sweetly, but he could tell she was trying to cover up how she really felt.

"I saw you and Jaina… out there."

"Right, it was nothing, really."

"Okay," he said, deciding it would be best not to push it, though he wished he could know what was said. "Want to walk with me to Biology?" She nodded shyly, and they walked in silence to class.

First period was tense. Everyone went immediately to their lab groups and began gathering their supplies to do the experiment. Jaina and Danni were completely avoiding each other, leaving Jag to work with Danni and Zekk to work with Jaina. As Jag and Danni created a chart to record their observations, Jaina and Zekk were supposed to separate the flies by their gender. Though Jaina, surprisingly, seemed to actually be working, all Zekk seemed interested in was making a weapon out of a pair of tweezers and a rubber band.

Mating flies for genetic studies was a disaster as the entire class was erupting in chaos. Flies buzzed around, ignoring the attempts of various students to catch them. At Tesar's, Lowie's, Raynar's, and Ganner's table, the chanting of "do it, do it" came frequently as Tesar and Lowie took turns eating some of the flies a la _Fear Factor. _Jag's group seemed to be the only one having any success thanks to Danni's strict adherence to the rules. They were certainly the only group to not be chasing around flies, as theirs were properly put to sleep.

Finally, Zekk seemed to perfect his weapon. He took aim and released. The rubber band flew right into Danni's cheek.

"Zekk!"

"Relax, Danni, it was an accident," Jaina said, immediately coming to Zekk's defense.

"An accident? Are blind?"

"Not everything is a personal affront to _you_, Danni. And people call me egotistical."

"I cannot possibly be hearing this. He aimed for me."

"Oh my God stop blowing it out of proportions."

"Accuses the Queen of Blowing Things Out of Proportion!"

"Aren't we being a little hypocritical? Especially after this morning."

"Hyp- hypocritical? You define what it is to be a hypocrite!" Jag watched the two teen girls throw barbs at each other wondering what the hell was getting them so worked up.

Zekk seemed pleased with himself and his aim, though he also seemed to become very quickly bored. "Hey, check it out; I'm speeding up the mating process!" The argument ended abruptly as the girls and Jag whipped their heads over to where he had taken a male fly and placed it on top of a female creating a pseudo-sex position.

"Zekk, could you please stop being an idiotic little brat for one second?"

Before Jaina could come to Zekk's defense again, she was interrupted. "Yeah, Zekk, besides, you can't just have them lying on top of each other," Jacen said as he approached the group, most likely coming over to see what the argument was about. "They have to move or it'll never work." Jacen started to move the male up and down until the bug split in half.

"_Jacen, go away and harass some other group!"_ Danni exclaimed threateningly. The surprise on Jacen's face at Danni's tone and loss of control probably matched Jag's. Jacen didn't let it faze him for too long; he almost immediately flashed the infamous Solo smirk.

"Oops, that must be why all our bugs died. I was just coming over to borrow some."

"No," Jaina answered for the group, "You already killed one of ours."

"Fine, but don't blame me when I force you to watch _Attack_."

"You wouldn't dare," she hissed.

"Oh I would."

"I don't think so, unless of course, you want me to tell Tenel Ka where you and the other guys went while we were on Rodia for the day during spring break last year." Jaina crossed her arms and smirked at her now ashen faced twin.

"How did you find out?" he whispered urgently.

Jaina rolled her eyes. "You act like it's not obvious. Just because your girlfriend lives in blissful denial, doesn't mean I do." Jacen stalked off to follow Danni's original orders.

Both Jaina and Danni seemed to mirror their exasperated faces perfectly. "Immature ass," they muttered under their breaths in unison and then glared at each other. Jag was utterly confused as to what was going on between the two, but he did know that the tension between them was palpable.

"_Attack_?" he said the first thing that came to mind.

Jaina's eyes flickered over to him at the mention of the name of the old movie. "What about it?"

"That's the corny pre-civil war movie with Wynssa Starflare isn't it?"

"Giant bugs from outer space taking over the world aren't corny, they're terrifying, and I'm not ashamed to say it. I mean, have you ever seen Raynar naked?"

"Uh…" Jag couldn't exactly see what that had to do with the present conversation, "I can't say that I have."

"Well, let me tell you, it's one of the most disturbing things anyone has ever seen, but the scene where Wynssa Starflare's lover is getting his brain sucked out by the blue beetle…" She trailed off and shook her head.

"Dude, Wynssa Starflare was hott in that movie," Zekk commented. "C'mon, Fel, even you have to agree with that."

"Considering she's my mother, I don't think so."

"Wynssa Starflare is your mother?"

"Yeah."

Jaina seemed to be rather disturbed by the revelation. "Let's just work on the lab."

"Fine by me," Danni answered, and the two turned to their work ignoring everything else until the bell rang. Jaina was the first out, brushing past everyone, including Zekk, on her way.


	15. Popular

Chapter 15: Popular

"Hey," Jag set his tray down next to Danni's.

"Oh, hi, I thought you'd be sitting with Jacen today."

"Do you not want me to sit here?"

"No – I mean, yes – I mean, I do want you to sit here; I just figured you wouldn't want to."

"Well, I do want to sit with you – if your friends don't mind that is."

"They don't mind at all," she quickly assured him.

"Good."

They ate silently; Jag was continually glancing at her, and he could tell she was glancing at him as well. Towards the end of lunch, he was about to ask if everything was okay after the rather strange fight with Jaina earlier, but she spoke first. "Jag, could I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"Why did you want to sit with me?"

"What do you mean?" he stalled. Though Jag had planned to tell her that he was attracted to her, he hadn't meant for it to be so soon.

"Well, you're popular, and I'm… not."

"I'm not popular, trust me." Jag nearly laughed at the thought.

"You're friends with the Solos, or at least Jacen."

"So?"

"So, if you're friends with a Solo, you're popular. If you're not friends with a Solo, you're not popular."

"Danni, what are you talking about? It's just a clique; everyone belongs to a different group."

"You're right, everyone belongs to a different clique," she said, nodding with a smile on her face that confused Jag. "Take Malinza Thanas for example. She leads the biggest clique in school. She's also president of all seven clubs she's in, and everyone signs her petitions."

"See?"

"Malinza Thanas's godfather is Luke Skywalker. Jaina, Jacen, and Anakin actually consider her their cousin because their families are so close. The entire student body will sign any petition she shoves in her face because Jaina signs it first. That's how everything works here. Make friends with Jaina, Jacen, Anakin, or someone who sits at their table, and you're in. Unless of course, you're in social exile… like me," Danni concluded her speech without a hint of the bitterness Jag would expect. She said everything as though reciting facts.

"Listen, Danni, I don't care about being popular. You're nice and funny and smart and beautiful, and if no one else can see that because they're too busy caring about what Jaina thinks, when I think her taste is at the very least questionable and at the most absolutely insane, then that's their loss."

Danni stared at him silently for several minutes. Jag, too, remained silent as he watched the shock in her eyes slowly turn to happiness. Before he knew what was happening, her lips were on his and just as suddenly gone as she got up and walked away from the table with her tray. She put it up just as the bell signaling the end of lunch rang. Jag looked around at the other students in the cafeteria. Everyone's eyes were darting between him and Danni's retreating form. Slowly, the room emptied, but one pair of cold, brown eyes never left Jag. Jaina sat in her seat across the cafeteria and stared at him. Ignoring her, Jag stood and put up his tray.

"Hey, Fel!" Jaina caught up with him as he exited. "I take it you and Quee are dating now."

"I really don't see how it's any of your business," he said trying to dodge her.

"You'd be surprised."

"This might come as a shock to you, Jaina, but not everything revolves around you," he walked away, but she caught up to him.

"I never said it did. Other people may say that I'm that important, and who am I to disappoint?" He shook his head at her egotistical remark and kept walking. "Aw, come on, Fel. Why are you so afraid to say whether or not you and Quee are dating? Can't believe that a social outcast like her would show affection publicly? I guess the rumors are true. You're just with her for an easy lay."

Jag came to a dead stop. "How dare you accuse me of that?"

"I know guys like you, Fel. I'm sure all the guys will be high-fiving you in the locker room before practice today for it."

"You know nothing about me, Solo."

"No, Fel, you know nothing about me. And you also, obviously, know nothing about your new girlfriend. I could tell you things about Danni Quee that would turn the rest of your hair white."

"Why can't you leave her alone? God, you're a bitch to a girl who has done nothing to deserve it. And since you are, after all, omniscient Goddess Jaina Solo, I'm guessing you even know what happened to her best friend last year."

"What? She actually told you about her best friend?"

"Yeah, she did. She said her best friend disappeared."

Jaina paused, seeming to actually contemplate her response, then answered in a low tone, "Huh, I never figured Danni would be in denial about it. After all, everyone else who knew her best friend knows she's dead." Her voice became hard again, "And those little turn-your-hair-white fun facts, one of them is _how_ she died." Jaina turned on her heel and walked away, leaving him completely speechless.


	16. Complicated Social Infrastructure

A/N: So, so, so sorry for the long update time, but you see… Darth Writer's Block decided to duel my Muse (a long story involving a monkey, a key lime pie, and some mashed potatoes…), but unfortunately, my Muse is not a Jedi, so of course, she lost, then all my plot bunnies died of starvation because she wasn't there to feed them… But a couple of new bunnies have latched themselves onto me, and I managed to resurrect my Muse, so I'm back in the game!

REVIEW RESPONSES: **To IfOnlyIfOnly**: Thank you. Sorry to have left you iching for so long! Yeah, "turn the rest of your hair white" was my fav line in that chapter. I told my beta, you can change anything you want in that convo, but I'm keeping that line! **To G-Anakin13:** You'll find out... I refuse to comment either way on the evilness/non-evilness of Danni in this story. Thank you. **To SWaddict1986**: I'm glad you're glad. Interesting theory, but no theory will be debunked until it happens in the story. At least you're happy with your confusion. Sorry, the post took so long, but as I said, DWB killed my Muse, so it really wasn't my fault. **To Black Dragon of Destruction**: thank you. Here's the next chapter! **To Chimpo**: She certainly has an interesting one... Jaina's a pain in the ass, so what else is new? Hmm, I wonder why she could possibly interested in who Jag's dating... But, seriously, there is more to it than what you're probably thinking... **To Ishbugirl**: Here's the update, please don't die! Hey, are you on the Boards? Because your name is really similar to someone who's on there...

Chapter 16: Complicated Social Infrastructure

"So, you and Danni, huh?" Jacen asked that day after practice.

It was the first time anyone spoke to him since Jaina confronted him in the cafeteria. Not even Danni had been willing to meet him in the eyes.

"It's nothing official. I mean, we haven't been on a date or anything," he admitted, though the thought of dating Danni was certainly appealing.

"Well, I think it's cool. I used to have a crush on her back in the day. But don't tell Tenel Ka that. She'd murder me even though it was in the first grade."

"You did?"

"Hell yeah – every guy had a crush on her at one point or another. Don't expect anyone to admit to it though, not after last year…" Jacen seemed to be out of it, almost regretful, as he trailed off, but after a moment he snapped back to look at Jag.

"Jacen," he approached the subject carefully. So far no one had told Jag a thing. Either he was told no one knew or he was asking the wrong person or they didn't even seem to want to recall what had happened, but Jacen was upfront and had to know what was going on. He was Jag's last chance at finding out what happened, unless he wanted to ask Jaina about it – which he didn't. "Do you know what happened between Jaina and Danni?"

"No, no one does, not even Tenel Ka." For a moment, Jacen looked like he would say something else, but he didn't say anything until they left the building. "So, listen, it really is great that you and Danni are together. She's a really cool girl, it sucks that she doesn't have many friends…" Jag couldn't help but notice that Jacen once again refrained from blaming his sister for anything. "Anyway, I'm just glad you two are together now…" Jacen stuffed his hands in his pockets uncomfortably and shuffled his feet. "I'll talk to you later." With that, Jacen practically ran to his speeder and hopped in, not even looking back as he jetted off.

Jag shook his head as he stared after Jacen. How did he suddenly become the center of some huge scandal?

It was high school – there didn't need to be some complicated social infrastructure to keep it running.

Jag got in his own speeder and headed home.

He wasn't naïve; he knew that not everyone could be friends. But was it necessary to completely exclude some one from every group simply because _one_ girl said so? _'Though,_' the annoying, inquisitive part of his mind whispered, _'You don't know the whole story… maybe it's not what it seems like.'_ He quickly banished the thought. Everyone said it was Jaina, and from what he had seen, there was no reason to believe otherwise.

He was glad Jacen, the first to accept him, supported Danni and he, but he couldn't understand why Jacen acted the way he did. If he thought Danni was as cool as he had said, why did he let Jaina push Danni around?

Jag let out an involuntary groan. If he was still on Csilla, he would have a happy, uncomplicated life, but no, he just had to move with his parents and transfer schools. Ever since he'd met Jaina Solo, his life had started going down hill.


	17. Deal With the Devil

A/N: Yes, it's true, a double update! I figured, since I haven't posted in a while and the last chapter was kind of whimpy in size, I should post another one, so here it is!

Chapter 17: Deal with the Devil

"What the hell is the matter with you?" Wyn, his freshman aged sister, accosted him in the foyer as soon as he walked in the door.

"Wyn, what are you talking about now?" He brushed past her, not particularly interested in her answer, and went to the kitchen. Wyn followed, practically stepping on his heels.

"Danni Quee? Danni Quee! Everyone knows she's a total loser and you kissed her in the middle of lunch!"

"Why is it your problem?" he asked, cracking open a water bottle.

"Because I'm your sister, which makes me unpopular by association. I'm never going to get into another Solo party again!" Wyn threw up her hands and stormed out of the kitchen.

"Wait! What?" he asked following her. His baby sister could not have possibly said what he thought she said; that would mean, she had been invited to a party when he had never been, and he was friends with Jacen!

"The only reason, I, as a freshman, could get into those parties was because you were Jacen Solo's friend. Now, that you two aren't friends anymore –"

"We're still friends."

"Then why did you kiss someone Jaina Solo hates?"

"First of all, Jaina Solo is absolutely insane, and secondly, you don't know anything about Danni. She's smart and nice, and a better person Jaina could ever hope to be. And I really don't have to explain anything to you." He walked out of the kitchen.

"Jaina isn't –"

Jag turned again to her, "How would you know? You read about her in magazines. You want me to try to like Jaina, how about you try to like Danni?"

"There has to be something terribly wrong with her, Jag. She's the only senior not allowed to go to the parties."

"How about this…" It was desperate, and he hated to do it, but he knew Wyn enough to know that she would never let it go. "If you try to get to know Danni and be nice to her, I'll do the same for Jaina."

He stuck out his hand for her to shake. After a moment's hesitation, she took it. "Fine, but don't expect me to get all buddy-buddy with her at school. _I_ actually care about my social status."

"And don't expect me to get buddy-buddy with Jaina, either." _'I actually care about my soul…'_ he added in his mind.

As Wyn walked away, Jag couldn't help but wonder why the suggestion even entered his mind and why it felt like he had just made a deal with the Devil.


	18. Conspicuously Absent

A/N: Sorry about the weirdness of last update. Hopefully, it won't happen again.

REVIEW RESPONSES: **To Ishbu girl**: Aw, well, I'm glad I made you smile. If you never go to the Boards, then yeah, I'm definitely thinking of someone else. Anyway, thanks for the review. **To Psyco yaoi fan girl**: Thank very much! Here's the update. **To Chimpo**: Yay! Sorry about all the confusion, I really don't know what happened. Well, you may like the sound of it, but Jag sure doesn't! And, yeah, being nice to Jaina, especially when she has no such deal made...

Chapter 18: Conspicuously Absent

Jag walked into Biology class Wednesday morning, determined to ask Danni out on a date and make it official. Unfortunately, he'd been put into a bad mood by Wyn, who had reminded him several times of their agreement.

He sat in his seat at the lab table. Jaina was already there, scribbling away furiously in a notebook he assumed was the same she claimed held her hit list.

The late bell rang. Zekk, as usual, had not come in yet. But Danni was conspicuously absent. Had she gotten sick?

"So, should we get started?" Jaina asked, after looking up from her notebook. All the hate from yesterday seemed to have disappeared.

"Don't you want to wait for Zekk?" he asked somewhat angrily. She might be willing to forget all about yesterday, but he certainly remembered how she went to Zekk's defense even when he was obviously in the wrong.

"He's skipping first," she answered dryly. "It looks like it's just going to be us."

"Well, aren't we lucky?" he asked sarcastically.

"I was thinking of petitioning for a national holiday in commemoration of the day," she responded in kind, as she began pulling out the work they had done from yesterday.

"I thought Danni had all of that?"

"She called me this morning and told me she wouldn't be here, so I got the stuff out of her locker."

"She called you?" he asked carefully, sure he'd heard wrong. Danni had called Jaina, but not him? It didn't make sense; after yesterday, he was sure Jaina and Danni hated each other above all else.

"Yeah, see, there's this thing called a telephone –"

"I know what a telephone is. I was just surprised."

"And _I_ was just making sure. You can never be too careful these days."

"Did she say why she's not here?"

"Nope."

"Why would she call _you_?" he, again, voiced the question that began nagging him the moment she said it.

"Listen, I'm sorry your girlfriend didn't call you to let you know that she won't be at school, but I really didn't feel like playing twenty questions this morning at five – which is, by the way, when your delightful girlfriend decided would be the perfect time to call – so I didn't get all the facts. She didn't tell me why she couldn't be here or why she called me, especially at five AM, nor did she tell me anything else which I didn't already tell you, okay? Now can we please just get to work?"

Jag was about to argue back, but the disapproving gaze Mrs. Sebatyne had fixed on them changed his mind. "Sure."

The two worked quietly, for the most part ignoring each other. Other groups were laughing and talking, and they just sat there.

Jag mentally sighed. Wyn would be on his case until he made friends with Jaina. No better time than the present. Of course, he had no idea what they could possibly talk about. Fencing. That was a safe topic. Or, at least, relatively safer than other topics…

"So… do you ever get nervous?"

"What?"

"Before a fencing match, do you ever get nervous?"

"No."

"Wow, that's … very confident of you."

"When you have what it takes to back it up, why not be confident?"

"Right…" he responded, then mumbled under his breath, "'Cause that's not arrogant at all…"

"Did you say something?" Jaina raised an eyebrow, but Jag had the feeling that it was a genuine question rather than a sarcastic comeback.

"No." The pitiful conversation died and they continued their work.

Okay, so it wasn't his best attempt at conversation, he conceded. But it was an attempt, and that's what counted, right? Wyn should be pleased with that.

"Why all the interest?" Huh? Was she seriously keeping this lame excuse for a civilized conversation going?

"No reason, just, you know, making conversation. And that's probably the only thing we have in common so…"

"So, it was merely an attempt to get rid of silence?"

'_No, it was an attempt to keep my sister from murdering the girl I like because that's what will happen if I'm not nice to you.'_ "Something like that. I'm not really good at the whole small talk thing…"

"Huh, I couldn't tell," she said with an eye roll. "At least you managed to pick a good topic." They fell silent again. "Do you?"

"Do I what?"

"Get nervous?"

"Um, yeah, a little, I guess."

"Good, use it."

"Use it?"

"The adrenaline, use it."

"On Csilla, they always told us to ignore the nervousness." He leaned forward unconsciously, interested in what she had to say.

"No, that's impossible. You have to take it in and channel it to your advantage."

"All right, I could try that."

"Do or do not, there is no try."

"Huh?" Why did that sound familiar?

"My uncle, it's this weird little mantra he picked up from his mentor during the War."

"Oh, it sounded familiar."

"Do you watch Civil War documentaries?"

"No."

"Yeah, me either… um, have you ever played the video game _Rogue Squadron: Civil War_? He says it in that."

"That's right. Wow, I haven't played it in so long… I never figured he actually said that, though. You play?"

"Oh yeah, I have all the _Rogue Squadrons_. I'm obsessed."

"That's the only one I have."

"Seriously?" she leaned her elbows on the table and gave him a stare of complete incredulousness. "How can you only have _one Rogue Squadron_? They're the best!"

"Well, yeah, but my father isn't exactly thrilled with the idea that I love _Rogue Squadron_ video games so much."

"Oh, yes, the Imperial Baron wouldn't be, would he? Oh well, I'm probably biased about them anyway. It's kind of hard not to be when you know the Rogues."

"You know them? All of them?" He'd met his uncle, Wedge, a total of one time, but to know all of the Rogues was something he couldn't fathom, especially in the flippant way she spoke about it.

"Every single one of them, which trust me, isn't as glamorous as people like to think."

"Those are some of the best sailors in the world."

"They _are _the best sailors in the world. And they know it too. They're the cockiest asses alive." The bell rang signaling the end of class, but they kept talking as they walked out.

"Well, when you have what it takes to back it up, why not be confident?"

Jaina grinned widely, this time a hint of laughter could actually be seen in her usually cold eyes. He couldn't understand why she wouldn't do that all the time. Everyone had seen her smiling in magazines and on television, but she looked even more beautiful when she did it in person – whoa, where did that come from?

"Touché, Fel, touché."

"Jaina."

"Oh, hey, Zekk." Jaina turned to look at the boy, obviously trying to keep the smile from her face and failing.

"C'mon, let's get to class."

"Zekk? Wanting to get to class early? Are you feeling all right?"

"Fine." He threw his arm around Jaina's shoulder and glared at Jag over her head. Jag looked after Zekk and Jaina. Maybe getting to know Jaina wouldn't be so bad after all. It would keep Wyn off his back and civil toward Danni and would piss Zekk off at the same time. Besides, Jaina wasn't _so_ bad; she could actually be almost fun to hang out with, as long as she never smiled like that again. If she did… well, that would be very problematic…


	19. Anything To Win

A/N: So sorry for the lag between updates, but I have a few chapters ready for posting, so they'll be up fairly quickly.

REVIEW RESPONSES: **To Chimpo**: yeah, all sailors – glad you like it. He's starting to, yeah. Don't expect a complete 180 though. **To SWaddict1986**: Glad you liked it. You'll find out more about Jacen's supportiveness later. You don't like Wyn? Why? The "care about my soul" line was a last minute stroke of genius if I do say so myself. Yes, they are actually talking… in that chapter… The Rogue Squadron video game – well, it stands to reason that the Rogues are absolutely famous and what do we with famous people? Immortalize them in video games; besides, my brother used to play the real Rogue Squadron video games, so I always think about that when I think about the Rogues. **To Ishbu girl**: glad I could brighten your day. **To G-Anakin13**: thanks.

Big, enormous thanks to **JagednJaded**/**KillerRomance** for the wonderful beta-ing!!!!!

Chapter 19:

Jaina Solo had to be the most inconsistent person in the world. They had an at least semi-good conversation in Biology, but when Jag sat with the group at lunch, Jaina was, once again, ignoring him.

Now, at practice, he could feel her staring at him. Openly staring. From the strange looks Tahiri and the rest of the team (not including Zekk, his death glares were hardly strange to Jag) were giving Jag, Jaina was not making the slightest effort to hide her calculating gaze.

It made things even more difficult for Jag who was struggling in his spar against Tahiri. He still couldn't get Jaina's smile out of his mind. The other part of his mind was worried about Danni. How could it be that she was in perfect health the day before, but was now sick? He tried to focus himself back on the gym where there was palpable pressure as the first match was approaching soon. And now she had to go and stare at him while he was trying to concentrate.

Tahiri had been racking up points against him easily, so it was no surprise at the end of the last sparring match of the day that she had won.

"Fel," Jaina called as he was on his way to the locker rooms to change. "After you get dressed, come to the aux gym, I want to talk to you." Jag frowned at the unusual request. She never asked to talk to anyone privately, or if she did, it was always a quiet affair, not shouted across the gym.

He didn't talk to anyone in the locker room and headed quickly over to the auxiliary gym. Talking to Jaina was the last thing he wanted to do at the moment, so hopefully it would be quick.

She sat on top a cabinet on the far side of the room which held various pieces of exercise equipment and stared at him. Frustrated with her staring by now, he decided to get it over and done with.

"If you want to talk, talk; I have other things to do."

"You were distracted today."

"Gee, I wonder why."

"What? My staring made you uncomfortable?" She stood as she spoke and walked over to him. Jag refused to reply. "Get used to it because at competitions, there will be a hell of a lot more people staring, especially when you're messing up. We have a match in a week and a half, and in two months, we go head to head with our biggest rival whose team generally has the same number of members at nationals as we do, which means the whole team. They will crucify you, and if you keep sparring like you did today, all the other teams will too."

"I had some things on my mind today."

"You shouldn't be thinking. You should be feeling. And if you are thinking, it should be about the move your opponent is planning on making in their strikes, so you can adequately prepare yourself for it." Her eyes blazed, getting more impassioned with every word she spoke. _'Control yourself, Fel. You like Danni. Think about Danni.'_

"It won't happen again."

"It sure as hell better not," she snapped. A moment later she was calm again, though she still spoke with the same intensity, "Now, how prepared do you think you are for competition?"

"According to you, not very."

"Listen, you're new to competition on a higher than local level, so I've been pretty slack with you, but don't count on anyone else giving you that."

"I'm sorry? You've been slack with me?"

"Yeah, and as strange as that must seem to you, it's true. Anja Gallandro at Indi Boarding would have been twice as hard on you, and she wouldn't have even put you on first string."

"I'm doing the best I can; I'm not perfect."

"You're not doing the best you can. The best you can is to do _anything_ to win."

"So what? You're telling me to cheat?"

"I'm telling you to do what you have to do. Train harder, push harder, and start remembering that I know what I'm talking about when I say something and don't just shove it off to the side."

"I don't shove it to the side," he said, immediately defensive.

"You have improved, but not as much as you would if you were to make a conscious effort to follow my advice. At the end of this week I have to turn in my team roster. If you aren't willing to do what I tell you, say so now so I can find an adequate replacement. You have what it takes to be great – I wouldn't have put you on the team if you didn't – but right now, you're performing at a local level and everyone else around you is going to be performing at a national or international level."

"I'll do what I have to."

"Good."

"Is that all?"

"Every night at exactly nine PM, I'm at the entrance of the Borelias National Park – do you know where that is?"

"It's off northeast Coruscant, but what does that have to do with me?"

"I expect you to be there at least twice a week." She walked forward and jabbed his chest with her index finger. "I _will_ finish out with this team on top, understand?"

"Yeah, yeah, I understand."

Jag slowly walked out of the room. Jaina was determined, that much he'd always been sure of. But there was desperation in her eyes that he'd never seen before, especially for something so trivial as fencing.


	20. Notes

A/N: It's been absolutely forever since I updated!!!! I'm so sorry. Hopefully, I'll be upping as often as possible from now on.

REVIEW RESPONSES: **To G-Anakin13**: thanks. **To SWpants666**: thanks. Jag will remain confused for quite a while, so I hope you_ really_ like it. Here's the update. **To JediBettyBug18**: thank you. **To Yun-Harla**: of course! Here's the update.

Chapter 20: Notes

Jag collapsed onto his bed. He was going insane. He had to be; there was no other explanation as to why he was still thinking about Jaina Solo's damn smile.

He groaned when the phone on his nightstand rang.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Jag?"

"Yes?"

"It's Danni."

He sat up straight and smiled. She was certainly a welcome distraction. "Oh, hey, Danni."

"Hey, I was wondering if you could tell me the assignments that I missed."

"Sure." He got up and walked over to his desk where he had put his book bag. Suddenly, an idea struck him. "Actually, most of the assignments may not make sense without the notes. So, if you want, I could bring them by."

There was a silence on the other end for a moment. "I don't think that's a good idea…"

"Oh." She didn't want him to come over? Wasn't she the one to kiss him first? Before a thousand other suspicious questions could tumble through his mind, she continued.

"But I could go over there. I just… I can't have guys over." He sighed a nearly audible sigh of relief.

"Sounds good. I'll see you in a little while?"

"Yeah. Probably about a half hour."

"Great."

"Bye." She hung up, and Jag felt completely relieved. So she had strict parents. He could understand that. His father wasn't exactly light on discipline.

He took a quick shower and changed into something nicer than his school uniform. Since he couldn't ask her to go out with him that morning, he would ask when she came over.

Almost exactly a half hour later, she arrived. Jag quickly ran a hand over his hair to smooth it down and his other brushed off invisible lint from his shirt before opening the door.

"Hey, come on in."

"Thanks. I can't stay long. I have to pick something up for my mom," she said as she followed him into the den.

"Well, um, I have everything right here." He picked up the short stack of papers he had gotten ready.

"You didn't have to go to all that trouble."

"It wasn't trouble, and I was happy to." She blushed and dipped her head down so her hair covered her red cheeks. The blonde hair mostly covered her small smile, completely unlike Jaina's unabashed – _'No, Fel – focus.'_ "So… you look all right."

"Oh, um… thanks," she said with a small frown.

He inwardly cringed. His foot had definitely lodged itself in his mouth with that one. "No, no, I mean you don't look sick. I was worried that you had gotten really sick when you didn't come to school today."

The blush returned to her cheeks when he admitted his worry. "It was actually a migraine. I get really bad migraines sometimes."

"Wow, that must suck." And the foot just kept getting deeper – this had to be the night of saying stupid things.

"That's one way of putting it. I have to go, so thank you for the notes."

"Yeah, no problem. Here, let me walk you out."

"Thanks." He led her back to the front door, but stopped before turning the knob.

"Danni, about yesterday –"

"If you want to forget it, that's fine," Danni cut him off. "I mean, we just became friends, so if you think I was too forward or anything, that's okay, I totally understand."

"Um, actually, I was going to ask you out for this weekend."

"Oh… so, um, just ignore what I said. I would love to."

"Good." They stood there smiling at each other for a moment. "So, I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Absolutely." Jag opened the door for her, and after a quick peck on the lips, she left.

Jag smiled and leaned up against the door. He had a date with Danni Quee for Saturday night.

"Jagged?" His mother walked into the foyer, Jag stood up straight again. "Your uncle Wedge is on the phone. He wants to talk to you."

"About what?"

"He and Iella want to have you over for dinner sometime next week." Jag took the phone from his mother slightly reluctantly – couldn't he just have one moment to think about a beautiful girl without the phone ringing tonight?

"Hello?"


End file.
